Understanding the effects of perceived ethics failure, compassionate leadership, and communication strategy on anti‐government sentiment

Abstract

This study conceptualizes anti‐government sentiment and tests the relationships between anti‐government sentiment and three antecedents (i.e., ethics failure, compassionate leadership, and communication strategy). An online survey (n = 1,112) was conducted in South Korea. Exploratory factor analysis with principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the measures proposed for anti‐government sentiment. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Results show that publics' perceptions of the government's ethics failure, lack of compassionate leadership, and use of a buffering strategy for communication are positively related to their anti‐government sentiment toward the incumbent government.